Sept. 22, 2000

Box Score

Cincinnati, Ohio - Despite 23 kills from sophomore standout Colleen Hunter, the Saint Louis volleyball team dropped a 12-15, 13-15, 15-10, 12-15 match to the Cincinnati Bearcats. The match begins the heart of Conference USA action for both squads. The Billikens fall to 5-7 overall, 0-2 in Conference USA. The Bearcats improve to 9-4, 2-0 in the league.

"We started blocking well, came back to win game three but just couldn't carry the momentum over through game four," said head coach Marilyn Nolen. "Cincinnati just beat one of the best teams in the league in Louisville, and I thought we played well tonight. We have a young team and they are getting better each time out. I'm encouraged by our progress."

The Bills hit a match-high .222 in the first game, but UC had five more kills which proved to be the difference in the close game. The Bearcats hit .271 for the second-straight game and the Bills fell one kill short of their total in the first game, but again, UC edged SLU in game two. Saint Louis responded with its best defensive effort on the night and held Cincinnati to just a .067 hitting percentage in the third game as SLU crawled back into the match. Once again, the Bills nearly duplicated Cincinnati's offensive output but the Bearcats edged SLU in the fourth game to take yet another hard-fought match between the teams.

In addition to her 23 kills and .321 hitting percentage, Hunter added seven digs, matched her career best with seven blocks and served up three aces. Jessica Moss added 14 kills and notched her eighth double-double with 10 digs. Cristal Leonard contributed 12 kills and 10 digs while Brooke Minniear had a match-high 17 digs. Ember Knobeloch had a strong game with nine kills and a career-high three solo blocks. Cincinnati native Beth Martin handed out 42 assists and added nine digs to go along with four blocks. The Billikens tied a season-high with 16.0 team blocks and posted the second highest block assist total of the season with 20. For the Bearcats, Shauntel Miller had a team-high 20 kills while Bonita Wise had 19 kills and 13 digs. Stephanie Meinig and Trish Ladusaw both added 12 kills.